When Netflix released the series Stranger Things back in July of 2016, it absolutely broke the internet. Ever since then, its popularity has only increased with each new season that has come out. It is a series with a storyline like no other, incorporating unimaginable creativity and intelligent attention to detail that adds to viewer satisfaction.
When Season Three of the show was released back in 2019, the series’ popularity skyrocketed even more around the globe. Various stores including Target, Walmart and even Ulta Beauty filled their shelves with Stranger Things products therefore increasing the advertising of the show. On top of that, celebrities including Sabrina Carpenter, Zac Efron and Ryan Gosling have continuously spoken about their admiration for the series.
There are so many aspects that go into play with how this series developed its fame and admiration. One of the components being the accurate capture of classic 80s nostalgia, with the show beginning in 1983. Along with that, the Duffer Brothers, who are the creators of the show, have a miraculous sense of creativity and imagination that plays into the popularity of the show. With every character and event which outline the plot, intricate stories are weaved that display this sense of creativity.
Furthermore, the series also manages to incorporate side plots including relationships, teenage drama, mental health battles and diverse family structures. All of these components have made Stranger Things such an appealing show to viewers of all ages and backgrounds, increasing its overall popularity.
After nine years, Stranger Things is finally coming out with its fifth and final season. Recently, the internet has been overflowing with content of various theories surfacing around on how the Duffer Brothers plan to conclude the show. Some of the theories that have been made are astonishingly clever with fans managing to depict the smallest details to form hypotheses of what Season Five may hold. If you haven’t yet seen the first four seasons, there are spoilers mentioned so continue with caution!
The first theory that has gained popularity is the idea that Billy Hargrove, Max’s step brother who was killed by the Mind Flayer back in Season Three, is still alive and will debut back into the storyline for Season Five. Fans that have introduced this theory did so by looking deeper into the details of the third season. It is noted that when Billy is attacked by the rats in Season Three, Episode Three, he enters the Upside Down and encounters a cloned version of himself. It is then pointed out that during the time Billy is there, his face is bloody and scratched up from when he crashed his car, however when Billy walks out of the factory with his new personality, he bears no trace of those same scratches, scrapes or anything of the sort.
This leads to the assumption that the new Billy viewers see throughout the remainder of the series wasn’t the real Billy, but instead is Billy’s clone being controlled by Henry/001/Vecna, and is possibly even Vecna himself. This leaves Billy to still be alive somewhere in the upside down.
In addition, at the time of him being brought into the Upside Down, the sound of a clock plays, which is what viewers now know as the sound that indicates Vecna is near, which was later revealed in Season Four. Even with the way that Billy acts, it is very coherent to the mannerisms of Vecna, supporting the idea that it is actually Vecna himself. Even though this theory could be far fetched, the details that were brought about seem to be convincing. This theory was posted onto TikTok by the creator youbyers and it caught the attention of hundreds of thousands of fans. The post obtained over 980.1 thousand views and 107.9 thousand likes. So the question is, will Billy make his return to the story line in Season Five? Only time can truly tell.
The next theory that has struck the Stranger Things fandom is one that changes the entire trajectory of the story. This theory begins with that in real life Will was found dead on November 6 1983. As a way to cope with the loss of his best friend, Mike begins writing a book in which Will is eventually found alive. This would mean that the events that have taken place in the series are all components of Mike’s imagination. The five seasons of the series could even symbolize the five stages of grief. This theory then goes on to explain that the Duffer Brothers intentionally forgot Will’s birthday in season four, because in reality Will is dead and Mike had forgotten to include his birthday into the story. This theory would further support the theme of how “people escape into imaginary worlds, addictions, and use any means to avoid reality in order to numb the pain, in this case the pain of loss.” Explained by curly_editor07 on TikTok, who is the creator that had brought this theory to social media. Despite being posted only a week ago from today, this post has already reached four million views and 728.8 thousand likes so it has undoubtedly gained extraordinary attention online. While it may lack evidence from the storyline and is more out-there, this theory is still a very clever and creative point of view to what may go down with the finale of the series.
Additionally, as the trailers, ads and advertising of Season Five has been brought up by Netflix over the past few weeks, viewers see that Mike’s little sister, Holly Wheeler, seems to have a significant role in the season, especially compared to previous seasons where she was merely a minor character. Although, as Stranger Things fans know, the Duffer Brothers include no details and no characters without careful intention. So, what significance is Holly going to potentially have in this last season?
Well, many people have made comments about the realization that the Duffer Brothers have actually been building up Holly’s storyline all along. Even going back to Season One, when Holly was with her mother Karen Wheeler visiting Joyce Byers in her home, the lights began to flicker and lead Holly into Will’s bedroom. As we now know the flickering of the lights was the communication from the upside down. People believe that this scene was done intentionally by the Duffer Brothers in order to foreshadow Holly’s significance in the final season.
It is also worth mentioning that the second episode of Season Five is called, “The Disappearance of ***** Wheeler.” Theorists believe that Holly is going to be the Wheeler to vanish considering the greater role she appears to have in this final season. This is also inferred because Vecna could be targeting Holly as revenge on her sister Nancy for shooting him in the chest causing him to fall out of the window of the Creel house at the end of Season Five. Plus, it can be argued that he has been generally targeting Nancy since Season One beginning with the murder of her best friend Barb.
Lastly, a theory revolving around who might die in the finale of the series is based upon the significance of the lights on the bikes. For example, in season four when Steve, Nancy, Eddie and Robin are biking through the upside down each of the lights on the characters bikes were off except for Eddie, who as we know dies at the end of the season. In a poster-ad of Season Five that was posted to Instagram by Netflix, five characters are illustrated in the photo riding bikes, but only Will and Dustin’s bike have their light turned on. Obviously the lights are a huge symbolism of the upside down and they are pivotal aspects of the story line. This could very well mean that the Duffer Brothers intentionally incorporated foreshadowing of who is going to die based on whose bike lights are turned on in the poster. On the contrary, this could be completely random and hold no correlation to each other whatsoever, but over the next few weeks viewers will find out. This theory has gained a lot of popularity on TikTok where it was posted by the creator, msoliveira7 on November 10. The post has already received over 340 thousand likes and 2.8 million views, meaning it has captured the attention of millions of Stranger Things fans across social media.
Stranger Things is a series so thought-out and unique that there will be no way of telling how the rest of the story line will take shape. Over the course of these next few weeks, Stranger Things fans that have accumulated over the decade of the series’ release will finally get to see the purpose of each detail of the storyline. Overall, the Duffer Brothers have surely made history on the finale of this sensational series. Fans across the globe are eager to see whether or not Eleven and the party will defeat Vecna once and for all.
